It's Not Over
by WishIHadATimeTurner
Summary: and both Sadie Mallone (OC) and Fred Weasley know this even if Sadie refuses to let herself fall for Fred all over again. When the Marriage Decree is put into effect and the two are reunited, it comes with a few surprising and awkward complications, one being Fred's slightly altered memories thanks to injuries gotten in the last battle. Forced to wed, will they find their way back?
1. Reunited

**I do not own the canon HP universe or it's characters or anything like that. Those all belong to the amazingly talented JK Rowling. If I did own anything, I think I'd pick Neville and the Weasley twins, I loved those three characters. I only own my original character Sadie Mallone and sometimes the verdict is out as to just how much I really control her, lol.**

 **Like with my other HP slightly auverse fanfic, I figured I'd better post the authors notes FIRST this time as opposed to at the bottom like I usually tend to prefer doing. So people know what lies ahead for this particular story because some are extremely picky. Yes, this is an AU post war marriage law fic featuring a Fred Weasley x OC pairing.**

 **First off, expect eventual sexual situations and swearing. There are Weasleys involved, those boys, as much as I love 'em.. They could probably drive a monk to swearing with some of their antics.**

 **Secondly, Fred was shoved out of the path of the spell that killed him by Percy and George who then helped him to safety. But not before he took a really hard and nasty blow to the head thanks to some courtyard stone. As a result, he has a bit of a fuzzy memory and it's been a long running thing because this story actually takes place roughly two or three years after the final battle. It's in the same auverse timeline as my Neville x OC post war marriage law fanfiction that I have on here. So now you know the timeframe for both stories which is a good thing, right?**

 **Third.. My original character was a Ravenclaw but.. Her parents were Purebloods and old money. As a result, they were prejudiced against Half Bloods and Muggles.. And they didn't particularly like poorer people either so you can imagine when the relationship began between Sadie and Fred began what that was like. Also, her family is a cold and uncaring one and they had some pretty messed up ways which affected Sadie indirectly (like trying to have her killed after they realized that she wasn't going to take the Dark Mark like the rest of her family did which forced her to go into deep hiding for a long time..) so if Sadie seems like a slightly cold or aloof person it's because she's been broken a thousand times before by the start of this story. If you're really curious about her, there will be things about her on my profile and a collection of sets for her (as well as all of my other annoying as hell musi) on my polyvore thing.**

 **Fourth.. I mention that she made it so that she couldn't be found by way of magic. I don't know if that's possible or not, but she's not all powerful.. It was just dumb luck that she found the particular fix to her situation. She is NOT smarter than Hermione Granger, just so nobody gets angry or anything. She's not some supremely powerful witch either. Desperate times will make desperate people do desperate things. Also, it wasn't just magic.. Magic was a huge part of it, but she also used a lot of aliases and moved around a lot. So an owl wouldn't know where to go to find her to begin with. I kept what she did to disappear vague, but for arguments sake let's just say that she figured out a thing and she lucked into it working. Coupled with her constant moving until the wars end and even a little after, yeah.. She'd be a hard girl to find if you had no idea where to start looking? She went to America because logically nobody would think to try and find her there.**

 **Okay, so here it is.. The first chapter of my Fred Weasley post war marriage law fic. I really hope that you guys like it. And it will be fluffy and sweet and sexy too hopefully. -fingers crossed-**

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ONE

(Sadie)

In an instant, your life can totally change for the best or the worst. The day started off normally enough for me, I'd just gotten to work, -I bartend after class at a bar on Bourbon Street in New Orleans – when mine took an **unexpected** turn.

"You're late, Sadie." my boss called out, a scowl on his face as he looked at me. I scowled right back and then spoke up, "Yes well.. It's not like I intended to be late."

"It better not happen again, girl."

I mimicked him under my breath and rolled my eyes as I slid over the bar top and landed on my feet on the other side. I got right into taking food orders and mixing drinks and I guess that's how I didn't see him when he came into the bar.. Or should I say them, because of course, Fred Weasley never goes anywhere without his twin George.

I probably wouldn't have noticed Fred either, and been content not to because to be perfectly honest, we sort of have a history, he and I.. We dated during our school years, you see, in the wizarding world things were tense then and my parents hated Fred for some reason or other.. They hated pretty much anyone who wasn't a Pureblood elitist asshole or who took the side of the resistance that was forming as opposed to Voldemort's side.. And his parents, they weren't fond of me, especially considering it was a well known fact that my parents were Voldemort supporters and Death Eaters.

Anyhow, we dated and were happy despite all that, or so I thought.. And then he leaves school and says that he's breaking up with me for my own personal safety about two or three months later.. And it killed me then because I realized just how much I really loved him.. And how much I wish I'd actually been brave enough to have told him that, how much harder I wish I'd fought to stay in his life... Anyway, I probably wouldn't have noticed him in the bar that night, but..

The music started up and a group of rowdy frat boys near the front started to slam their beer steins down on the wooden surface of the bar as they chanted 'Dance!' in unison. I rolled my eyes.. As a former Ravenclaw who is now a pre med major slash dance minor, you can see how making an ass of myself wearing this ridiculous excuse of a work uniform would not appeal to me, yes?

But a girl I work with, Carrie, she tugged at my hands and then said "C'mon Ms. Sophisticate." and I rolled my eyes at her, brow raised and then said in a clipped tone, "You do it."

"You're a bartender now, girl, not just a server. You want better tips? Get your butt up here and shake it with us. C'mon, it's not like it's a big deal or somethin, London. We're not strippin or something. Loosen up, London."

"I'm not from London."

"You're from the UK.. What's the actual difference?"

I could have argued with her about what the 'actual difference' was, but I chose not to. And I realized that yes, she was right.. If I want to start paying off those student loans now as opposed to just waiting and letting my unborn grandchildren in the far off future have to.. I need more tips. The tips I make serving food and bartending alone aren't much.. _Maybe if I participate in this spectacle_ I reasoned, _the people who came in would start to tip me better._

I got onto the bar and started to dance, pretending to enjoy it, pretending to be the epitome of this 'sweet lil thang' that so many men seemed to come into this place to meet and take home and my eyes happened to dart around the crowded bar about halfway through a classic rock anthem for clubs and pubs like this, 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' and that..

That's when I noticed him, standing towards the back of the bar, his arms crossed, a jealous and rather unamused look in those normally warm and laughing brown eyes of his. The problem with me noticing him?

I froze like a deer in headlights. I mean my legs literally stopped working. All I could do was stare at him. Noises around me became a blur and gradually disappeared all together. Just like it always seemed to back then.. All that remained was Fred and I.

I was furious with myself, the foolish reaction he still managed to illicit from me after all this time, after the way he finished completely breaking my heart and left me behind when I needed him the most.. But he looked as handsome as ever.

The song ended and I finally managed to make myself get down from the bar top.

"Happy now, Carrie?" I asked, teeth gritted. She laughed and muttered something about uptight and me and how I needed to actually relax and unwind just one time, but nodded finally.

 _Maybe I was seeing things just now_ , I thought to myself then.. _Yes, that had to be it. I was seeing things.. Because there's no way Fred Weasley would come all the way to America, to my new hometown in New Orleans purely on a lark._ I continued to drill this into my brain even as my eyes darted around the bar, searching for him.

It had to be wishful thinking which lead to me imagining him there. If he were there to begin with, he'd still be there now, because I don't think that many missed my epic choke/stage fright/blind panic/embarassment episode from a few moments ago. He was looking right at me when I saw him too.

 _'It's just your imagination, girl. Stop thinking with that silly heart of yours and think with your brain, use your damned common sense. He made it quite clear just how much you mattered when he broke things off with you like that after all the two of you went through just to be together.'_ I scolded myself mentally as ACDC gave way to some ungodly country music that I've grown to loathe since I got the job working here last year.

I had myself almost fully convinced that I'd seen things earlier and pushed it out of my head, and then I heard him talking.. Right across the bar's wooden countertop, he and George were talking, Fred was making smug observations about how I'd frozen just a little while ago and George was sort of just sitting there, laughing and agreeing.

My head snapped up and at first, I was shocked and happy and I had to fight every urge I possessed not to climb over the bar and into his arms and kiss him. But if I had a happy look on my face, it vanished almost as soon as I reminded myself that he left me.. That I wasn't good enough for him, just like I hadn't been good enough for my family, for several others during my life. That when things got a little crazy at the end of our relationship, he left.. And the worst of it.. He made some half assed excuse when he did it, he couldn't even look me in the eyes and tell me the truth.

He had to lie and say it was for my own safety.

"What are you doing here?"

He and George looked at each other and Fred joked, "My soon to be wife, brother.. And this is how she greets me after I've been away so long."

I raised a brow, looked from Fred to George who mouthed, "Did you not get my warning owl?"

I shook my head and then turned my attention back to Fred and insisted, "Buy a drink or something. My boss likes to complain if someone's just lingering and not drinking."

"Not here to drink. I'm here, Sadie, to take you home." Fred said calmly, folding his arms across his chest as he watched me, nudged George and then asked, "Has she gone mad, reckon? Surely she hasn't forgotten me.. She better not have forgotten me."

I stared at him a moment, puzzled look on my face. Did I miss something? I mean the last time I checked, we were nothing to each other anymore.

I started to say something, but George's pleading look sort of made me fall silent. The ever present quick temper I possess and my impatience to know what Fred was going on about currently took over and I said "Going outside to my car in just a few minutes."

"Going to the bathroom first." Fred announced. He got up and walked towards the back of the bar and into the bathroom.

As he walked away, George took the cherry from the mixed drink I'd sat in front of him and ate it, stared at the top of the bar silently. Finally, he spoke.. "He almost died, ya know? If Percy and I hadn't shoved him down and out of the way.. He took a very hard and nasty bump to the head. Woke up about a month later, and at first he seemed fine.. But we noticed little things like when Angelina and I insisted that yes, Hermione and Ron were official now, and that we were engaged ourselves, he'd laugh and act as if we were playing a prank. Then there was everything that happened during the Battle of Hogwarts, he didn't remember half of it, it came out during a follow up visit to the healers that he wasn't even aware that he almost died but instead took one hell of a blow to the head.. He started having these nightmares at night and I woke him up from one, he started going on and on about how he had to find you, how he had to get to you, get you away from your father and brother.. How they were going to hurt you. He doesn't remember breaking up with you. Among quite a few other things. We thought his memory would straighten itself out but so far, it hasn't.. It's been a while now and he's spent the entirety of his time looking for you. Just so you know."

I gaped at George and then squeaked with wide eyes, "What the hell do you mean he doesn't remember breaking up with me? And just why in the hell isn't anyone telling him? Your mum never liked me back then... Is there some reason **she** didn't correct him the second she realized that he thought we hadn't broken up?" I commanded, tapping my foot against the hardwood floor.

"The healers.. They said that it could cause serious damage at first. Now that they've said that we can sort of nudge him in the right direction memory wise, we've tried telling him everything more recently, but he ignores us, he thinks we're all just paying him back for all the pranks he and I have played on our family over the years. He doesn't even believe he has any memory loss."

"They couldn't just wave a wand or something and bring it all back?" I asked as I calculated the amount of time Fred had been like this in my head. Though his mum's never particularly liked me, I instantly realized that she's had quite the hand full for a while now and I felt bad for her, for all of them really, because I know just how stubborn Fred can be when he gets an idea into his head. I've seen it happen, I've had him nearly drive me crazy several times when we were together back then and happy, because of his stubborn nature.

George shook his head, I stood there fuming, my teeth grazing my lower lip as everything went through

my mind at almost the speed of sound. It came back to me then, the remark he made when he first saw me earlier.. I looked at George and asked quietly, "Does he think we're still together? Why did he make that remark about his soon to be wife?" as I fixed my eyes on George, tapped my feet again, impatient and demanding an answer.

"Because the Ministry, woman.. Have you heard nothing that's happened since the Battle ended and we defeated Voldemort? They've passed a Marriage Decree recently.. Sort of why Angelina and I are just going on ahead and getting married."

"What's that have to do with me?" I asked as I took a sip of my own mixed drink, eyed George and waited on an explanation while inwardly raging at the Ministry and it's decrees and where they could shove them.. And how hard I was going to punch our new Minister in the throat when I was back there and I got the chance to do so.

Sticking me into a situation like this. At some point in a past life I must have been a really, really dreadful and terrible person and now, apparently, I'm going to pay for it.

"Well, Fred was matched with you. We've been sending owls." George explained, staring at me as if he were waiting for an explanation. I gave him one a few moments later when I answered "I won't get them. My house, it's got a protection over it. I wasn't taking any risks when I ran away like I did to escape my father and brother. I've gotten it fixed so that almost no one can find me. Which brings me to my next question.. How did you two find me?"

George sipped the alcohol and spat it out, handed it back. "It's gone bad." he pointed out, nodding at the glass in front of him. I know George well enough to know that it was a diversionary tactic, that he was trying to chage that particular topic of conversation.

"No it hasn't, George, it's bourbon. It's supposed to taste horrid.. You haven't answered me."

"Hermione?" his voice came out almost as if he were apprehensive in telling me, he knew we weren't ever the best of friends. We actually rarely got along. He waved his hands defensively and said "We had to do something to find you, Fred was going insane because he's spent all this time looking and there's been no sign of you anywhere, despite everything we've tried to make him remember .. And then the owl came from the Ministry after they ran the article about the law having been passed and.. We had to do something."

I grumbled and swore a little. Hermione Granger and I never particularly got on well in school, she found out my parents stood with Voldemort and naturally.. Not to mention I've been told I'm not the easiest girl in the world to like. I'm sort of sarcastic, I have a quick temper and zero tolerance for a lot of different things. I'm too serious and I'm not very optimistic either.

So no, it didn't thrill me that once again, Granger one upped me in intelligence. "Just brilliant. Now she knows what I had done to make myself disappear. Suppose she said it was simple minded or something of the like, right?"

"Actually, she said it was pretty brilliant. That it would have been a useful thing to consider when they were on their quest for the horcruxes." George said, my brows raised.

 _Had I entered an alternate realm?_ I wondered to myself as I took a huge sip of the bourbon laced mixed drink that George hadn't paticularly liked and waited on the rest of the explanation, puzzling this entire strange night over in my head.. Hermione Granger just doesn't easily trust or compliment someone. And yes, I can clearly see now that back then, given the way my family was and other variables that arose, she'd have every reason in the world not to trust me or like me. And of course there was Fred even being here.. I never thought I'd see him again. I'd actually been willing to bet all the gold in Gringott's that I wouldn't ever see him again.. Yet here he was, in the bar I work nights in. With no memory of us ever breaking up.

I shook my head and then asked, "Well?"

Fred slid onto the barstool, he had a mischevious grin on his face and I groaned inwardly. If he's rigged the bathroom with Exploding Snap like he and George used to now and then at Hogwarts, I swear to God above.. He looked from George to me and I took a few deep breaths.

And I convinced myself that sooner or later, he would remember things ending, he'd remember exactly why he walked away in the first place.. And at the end of this Marriage Decree, we could end things and go our seperate ways, I could most likely give him a piece of my mind at last then also.

"You've come to take me home, have you?" I asked finally after what seemed like an eternity but was actually around eight minutes. I heard swearing from the general direction of the mens room Fred had just come out of, but I ignored it all. I don't know nor do I want to know what Fred might have done in that mens room, the rotten trickster _-that you never stopped loving, my brain taunted-._

"I have, woman." Fred said as he stared me down, wiggled his brows at the stupid work uniform of cut offs and some tank top and boots that I had to wear. "Interesting little outfit." he remarked as he winked at me.

 _'Damn it heart, stop racing. Stop getting weak, knees. Everything about this situation is a mess waiting to happen. Do not start to fall again. Do not think for even one second that his memory won't ever return. Because it will.'_ I mentally scolded myself as I poured drinks for a few of the other customers sitting nearby and then feeling his gaze on me, I turned my attention back to him."I won't go quietly." I mumbled, a scowl on my face as I held his gaze.

It was harder like this, so many different and conflicting emotions, things I thought I'd gotten over and made myself stop feeling.. And the hurt and the anger, the bitterness at how things ended and how I was now **not only going to have to pretend things were all just fine** , but I was promised to Fred Weasley because of some Marriage Law.

"You never make things easy on me, do you, love?" Fred asked after a few moments. The sound of his voice, the adoration and that playful look in his eyes. It all made me feel like the worst kind of liar.. And at the same time, it made me wish that everything hadn't gone straight to hell as it had then.

"If I did, Fred.."

He chuckled and grabbed hold of my hands for a few moments, held them. I could feel his fingers slowly trailing over my palm. He stared at me quietly and then stood, came over the bar I stood behind with me, picked me up and carried me out.

My boss, whom I've sort of always really disliked, called out from behind us, "Your shift ain't over, girl!"

"I quit." I called out from over Fred's shoulder. I'd been looking for an excuse to quit working at the bar for a while now, then tonight happened and I know that if I don't go back and at least try to contest this whole arranged marriage I'll be facing time in Azkaban..

There's never really been anything holding me here in New Orleans to begin with. I just sort of grew to like the place and settled in when I was on the run and hiding. I never actually intended to stay here this long.

I never would have started to work at the bar if I hadn't overheard girls in one of my college courses discussing just how much they pulled in a night in tips. And if I'd known then what I do now? I wouldn't have ever stepped foot in this damned place because frankly? It's irritating, too crowded and noisy and I barely tolerate most people when they're sober.. Drunken idiots are a whole other matter entirely.

"You mentioned a car." Fred laughed as I hopped down from his arms and insisted stubbornly, "I can walk, okay?"

"Are you upset because I didn't come to you sooner? I would've, but I was.." Fred asked me, a concerned look in his eye. I remembered everything George told me, I realized that Fred doesn't realize how badly he did hurt me in the past.

And now I'll either have to let it go and try to be okay with everything or I'll wind up going insane.

I sighed and then said quietly, "No, it's just.. I was worried.. And it's been a long night and I just want to get out of here, out of this ridiculous outfit, okay?" as I held Fred's gaze a few moments. He nodded and slipped his arm around my shoulders, we walked to my Mustang and got in and I drove the three of us back to my apartment just off campus.

The entire time I was driving, I was trying to figure out just how I was going to manage to survive this situation without losing my mind. Or getting attached and getting hurt all over again when the day came that either our arranged marriage ended or he got his memory back.


	2. Tension

**I'm happy that people are adding this to their favorites and follows lists, i think so far I've had one favorite and two follows? I feel so honored that you seem to be reading this so far. There is angst ahead, and this chapter is angsty, but there's also lingering sexual tension too so I hope you enjoy it.**

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(FRED)

I stared at her, just watching her eat, laughing when as usual, she got her food all over her. "Do you need a bib, woman?" I asked as she jumped about a foot in the air and her hand went to her heart when she turned around to look up at me.

"I didn't get to eat lunch earlier, I sort of had to stay in the lab on campus longer." she admitted sheepishly, closing the door to the refridgerator as she put the container she'd been eating from into a garbage bin and went to step around me. There is one thing really bothering me at the moment and that's why she's sort of been avoiding any sort of actual physical contact with me since earlier when I showed up where she works at after finally finding her.

Something's off about that.

She's been nervous as all hell around me. And she sort of looks hurt whenever she does look at me. I can't figure out why, I mean unless she's upset and shocked that it took me so long to get here but that yes, I finally did find her.

When she went to step around me, I sort of pinned her in between me and the wall nearby. "Are you mad at me?" I asked finally. There's no reason to dance around things and I'd rather us fight now and get it all out than things building up and exploding later like she has a tendency to let them do.

"No.. Why would you? I'm not mad, I just.. Seeing you actually there tonight, alive and okay.. It shocked me." she said finally after sort of struggling for words for a few moments. Something about what she said felt like she wasn't telling me everything but I put it off to having been away from her for so long.

I eyed her lips and licked mine. She suddenly turned and opened the door to the refridgerator again, this time getting out a soda or something and taking a huge drink. Okay, she just dodged an attempt I made to kiss her.

Something, no everything about this feels wrong, like there are huge pieces of things missing. She's my girlfriend, we're supposed to be getting married thanks to this Ministry law.. Why in the name of Merlin would she dodge kissing me?

I leaned in, my fingers trailed slowly through her hair and she sort of shrank back and muttered quietly something about she had to adjust to all this, to me being here and not so far away. She looked up at me and then said quietly, "I'm sorry, Fred, I just.." as she turned and ran down the hallway, into her own room, the door banging shut behind her.

I stood there, my hand in my hair as I tried to figure out what was going on here, why she turned and ran and why it looked and sounded as if she wanted to cry for a few seconds there. Also, why she'd dodge the attempt I made to kiss her, to pull her against me just now.

It took me so long to find her, I've missed her so much, it's.. It's a relief to finally have her back, to finally be with her again. I'd actually started losing hope to be honest.

From behind me George yawned and said casually, "She's probably still shocked, Gred."

"Aye, Forge.. That's all it is." I mused as I stared down the hallway at her door intently.

I shook my head after a few moments and went into the other half of the large room at the front of the apartment, flopped down onto the sofa there and lie there trying to figure things out. She seemed almost skittish around me, in some ways almost as if she were hurting or angry or something.

I didn't know why but I did know that I got the feeling that I was missing something huge about the way she was acting. I thought she'd be happier you know.. To see me again, to be matched to me?

Now I'm just wondering why she might not be.

(SADIE)

It's harder than I originally anticipated, this whole bizarre scenario we're both entangled in. On the one hand, I want to just let go and get past the way things ended a few years ago. I want to forgive him, I want to love him again, I want this whole thing he's created mentally for whatever reason – us still being together, nothing changed- to be real. Then there are the parts of me that know it isn't. The parts of me that still hurt and never got over him when he left back then. And knowing that if I did tell him and he didn't remember on his own he'd think I was playing a prank, yeah..

When he tried to kiss me in my kitchen.. For a split second I almost caved. The way his hips felt against my torso when he used his body to sort of pin me into a literal corner. He knows I hate that but he also knows that it's the only way to keep me from storming out of a room if I'm angry, or to calm me down if I'm upset.. Just that touch.. And all the other little things I'd shoved deep down into the recesses of my mind and did my level best to forget when I had to get over him after we ended back then.. I didn't realize just how well they worked until now.

Or how much I can't deny that yes, I still miss them.

I fell across my mattresses and sighed heavily, I feel totally drained right now, everything in me is in an uproar and I don't like that.

I also don't like the fact that due to his 'memory problem', I can't stay as angry and distant as I convinced myself I could be while driving back here tonight.

I'd convinced myself this was going to be a piece of cake.

It's clearly not. It's torture in the highest form.

I rolled onto my back, tried to squeeze my eyes to stop the tears from coming but they came anyway. I heard him pounding on my bedroom door and I grumbled to myself a little, jammed the palms of my hands into my eyes to stop the flow of tears.

I don't cry. I never have as far as anyone who might know me actually knows.. I let them think that, but in truth?

I cry on the inside. Or when I'm alone and I know nobody will see me or hear me. I don't quite feel right about people comforting me, you see, I don't know what to make of it. I guess when you grow up in a home like mine was you only know cold..

Fred was my warmth, he was my light. When he left? I just sort of turned to ice again.

Now that he's back, even though I don't want it to happen I know what will inevitably happen.. I'll start to thaw. And I'll probably lose him again when he remembers and he realizes that he was done with me long ago.

"Are you okay in there, Sadie?" he called through the door. I grumbled and slid off the bed, opened the door a little. The door is between us, I feel like as long as it stays between us I won't do something stupid like fall into his arms and give into him again.

"I'm fine.. Just tired." I lied, probably not very convincingly either. He studied me a moment and then peeked into my room, curious. "Can I come in?" he asked.

The look in his eyes, confused and worried.. I should have told him no but I sighed and opened the door fully, stepped out of the way and let him in. He stood there in front of me for a few minutes and then said quietly, "I'm sorry.. I know I had to have promised you I'd come for you, I'd find you.. And it took me so long to do it. Actually, woman, you scared the hell out of me. It seemed as if you'd vanished until Hermione figured out how you managed to do it." as he looked up at me.

I walked closer, stopped, standing in front of him. His hands drifted up and rested on my hips and I bent a little, put my head against his. I shut my eyes as the scent of the shampoo he uses for his hair filled my nose again, intoxicating me. "I had to do that.. My father and my brother, they found out about you, about us.. They weren't happy with me. Tried to force me to take the Mark and when I didn't they wanted me dead."

He nodded, looking angry for a second. "I saw your brother die in the final battle." he admitted.

"I heard he'd died then. I just stayed hidden. I was afraid to come back. Things.. Life.. I didn't know what I'd come back to I guess." I muttered as I moved to sit on the bed next to him.

His hand found mine, he laced my fingers through his and then said quietly, "Me, of course. Is there something you're not telling me? I mean since I've gotten here tonight, you've acted as if you're both hurt and angry? There's someone else isn't there?"

I laughed at that and shook my head. After a long deep breath and a thousand times reminding myself that I had to go along with his memories for now and try to subtly nudge him in the correct way things happened somehow or it might make his injuries worse, I looked at him and said quietly, "No. There is nobody else. And if I seem that way, Fred, it's because I am. You were gone so long, I.. I just have to get used to you being back, okay?"

He nodded. The answer seemed to satisfy him, he stood and then said quietly, "Going to go to sleep now."

"Good night, Fred."

"Night, Sadie.. You can come in there too.."

He walked out and I sat there. I wanted to go into the living room with him but I knew that it's best I keep my distance. This whole situation is a disaster waiting to happen. And I have to figure out how to handle things better or I'll never make it out unscathed.


	3. Confusion

**I'm happy that people are adding this to their favorites and follows lists, i think so far I've had one favorite and two follows? I feel so honored that you seem to be reading this so far. There is angst ahead, and this chapter is angsty, but there's also lingering sexual tension too so I hope you enjoy it.**

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THREE

FRED

Some high volume Muggle rock band and movement from the general area of the kitchen, the smell of bacon and eggs, slightly burnt toast woke me the next day.. When I say woke, I should admit that I'd barely slept the night before. I'd fallen asleep for a while, yes, but I started to have this strange dream, it bothered me..

I could hear Sadie and I yelling at each other, I could hear the things I said, I could hear her getting upset and then me getting angry when she went into shutdown mode like she usually does when something upsets her... Thing of it is, all of this did not feel like a dream.

It felt like a memory.

If it was a memory, it was one I'd rather not remember. But it did have me wondering.. Did we fight before we went our seperate ways? Maybe that's why she was so shocked! Maybe she was so afraid she wouldn't see me again.. I thought to myself as I stood and stretched. George left late last night, aparated back home to tell everyone that I did finally find Sadie, that we'd be home in a few days. So it was just Sadie and I now.

I crept into the kitchen and stood leaned in the doorway just watching her. I sort of snickered to myself

because she was singing along to this Muggle music of hers, dancing around the kitchen a little. My eyes roamed a little, I admit.

It's seeing her like this.. The things she does when nobody's paying any attention to her, who she really is underneath all the grumpiness and sarcasm, the dry wit and the temper.. It's why I fell for her back then.

The dream -or memory, I hadn't ruled out it being a memory entirely- came back, nagging at me. The words said in it were just so.. Final.

It had to be a dream, I convinced myself as I stepped into the kitchen space and cleared my throat, coughing a little, mostly so I could breathe again.

I snickered and gave her a smirk when she first froze and then turned to give me this puzzled look, almost as if she'd forgotten I was there somehow. "Morning. Don't mind me, just going to stand here and enjoy the view."

"Damn it, Fred. You want to give me a heart attack before I'm thirty." she accused as she tugged the hem of the t shirt she wore downward as if to cover more leg. I shrugged, pretended to pout for a moment and she sat a plate on the small two person table in front of me.

"The toast is burnt. I blame my damned toaster."

"It's called a wand, woman, bloody hell.. Can't you use yours anymore?"

"I can, Fred.. I prefer not to, actually. I like doing things without magic." Sadie said as she took a sip of orange juice and looked at me a few moments.

That slightly pained look was in her eyes again. I noticed they were also sort of red, kind of like the time I upset her and she hid out in Luna's dorm room, cried nearly half the night. We fought a lot, both of us being stubborn, passionate and having tempers that were nothing if not notorious.. But her eyes looked red, almost as if she'd been crying again.

Her smile didn't look totally realistic either.

The dream from last night came back, I ignored it again. I don't want it to be anything more than a dream. I don't want it to be a memory, that would mean that I've managed to do something only an idiot would do.

I chuckled and cleared my throat, shrugged and mumbled in a quieter tone, "It's alright, I suppose."

"Charming, Fred." she retorted, staring at me a few moments as she bit into a strip of bacon and used it to point at me, "But I actually didn't even have to get up early this morning. I did this," she took another bite, groaned a little and I sort of thought to myself _'To be that bacon strip right now'_ while staring at her lips distractedly. She finally continued, "Because I thought you might be hungry."

"It's almost 11." I pointed out, taking a bite of my own food, staring at her intently.

"Yes, well.. I sleep late. You know this already." Sadie said as I nodded. I did know this. I recall many Hogsmeade weekends which I had to get Luna to go in and practically drag her out of bed.

"You look like you've been crying." I blurted out. She shrugged and muttered something I couldn't hear and like the day before, she was hastily retreating. I sat at the table, eating my food, wondering just what was going on right now.. I'd had it in my head that things would be amazing when I saw her again.

So far it seems like she's dancing around me at every chance she gets.

She walked back out of her bedroom a few minutes later, dressed. I looked up and asked, "Somewhere to go?"

She raked her hands slowly through that long soft hair of hers and I bit my lower lip as I stared intently, waiting on an answer. After a few seconds she admitted quietly, "I've got to.. The science lab.. A project.. I'm late. I'll be back this afternoon. Do not blow up the house.. Or fix it so that all the furniture is on the ceiling." as she practically rushed for the door.

I caught her though. Pinning her in again, I bent slightly, my hand rested on her cheek and I leaned down, pulled her into a kiss. She fought it like hell at first and then she swore and started to kiss back.

The kiss broke, she stood there gaping at me in the doorway.

And then she all but broke her neck to get out of the apartment. I stood there, hand in my hair as I puzzled over what the hell just happened.. Again, that dream came back to me.. What if it's not a dream, I wondered aloud.. What if it really did happen?

How do I fix that? Suddenly things were so much more complicated than just our impending arranged marriage and my wonky memory.. Suddenly I was realizing that if that dream from the night before was anything to go by then I really had a lot to fix.


	4. Maybes

**I'm happy that people are adding this to their favorites and follows lists, i think so far I've had two favorites and five follows? I feel so honored that you seem to be reading this so far. There is angst ahead, and this chapter is angsty, but there's also lingering sexual tension too so I hope you enjoy it. Also, maybe Sadie is softening towards the situation..**

* * *

FOUR

(SADIE)

I'd been dreading the day that lie ahead almost all week long now. Today we were going back to the Burrows. Given that Fred's mum hasn't ever been a really big fan of mine, I've sort of got this mindset that this can only go badly.

I paced my bedroom a little, paused to look at my reflection in the mirror, grumbling as I tore the damned irritating dress I wore off and threw it into a pile. My eyes landed on a pair of my favorite jeans and a favorite gray t shirt and black cardigan of mine. _'If I have to walk into a landmine, might as well be comfortable while doing it,'_ I mused to myself as I redressed quickly, pulled on my favorite black boots and ran a brush through my long blonde hair.

I stepped back again, gave the mirror a thumbs up. No sense in trying to impress. These people made their minds up about me a long time ago. Their opinion won't change just because I throw on a sweet looking dress and pretend to be something I've never been.

 _Besides,_ I reminded myself, _this marriage is probably just a temporary thing._ Fred and I aren't magically going to fall in love all over again and when he remembers us breaking up and whatever his reasons for that were, well.. If I go deluding myself into believing that maybe things could be good for us, I'd be an idiot and a liar.

I like to think I'm neither thing.

He pounded on my closed bedroom door and bellowed, "Are you ready yet, woman?"

"Okay, alright, I'm ready now." I said as I threw the door open and said quietly, "Let's just go.. Get this over with, okay? I still have even more packing to do when we get back here tonight." as I looked up at him. He studied me a few moments and finally said in a quiet tone, "You look pretty."

"I don't but thanks?" I muttered, brow raised at him as my heart skipped a beat or two. Instantly, I was kicking myself all over again. Why was he still able to get to me like he did?

We linked arms and a few moments passed, we stepped into the noisy and crowded living room of the Burrows just as Fred's mum was trying to get everyone and their respective spouses and fiancees together at the table to eat.

Things kind of went silent when it was noticed that I'd actually shown up, and to my surprise, after a few seconds, Molly made her way over and said quietly, "You're thinner. Doesn't look healthy. Get a chair, girl and come to the table." as she clapped her hands together.

I stood there a moment, shocked. This compared to the initial reaction I got when Fred bought me to the Burrows for the first time ever.. there was a world of difference in it. I noticed that nobody seemed to be eying me with frosty disregard.

I found a chair and carried it to the table quietly. No sense in making waves, I figure. The food was passed around and I filled my plate almost to bursting. Ron looked at me, brow raised and then asked, "Do you not let the woman eat, brother?"

"She always eats like this." Fred teased, giving me this gentler smirk as he slid his free hand onto my thigh beneath the table. I choked a little and turned to sort of look at him, my brow raised. I think his parents picked up on the underlying tension because Arthur quickly asked, "Fred tells us you're going to uni.. With Muggles.. What's that like?" as he shoveled in his food, eyed me in curiousity.

I shrugged and dabbed a napkin to the corners of my mouth, I'm the worst kind of messy eater and I'd gotten mashed potatoes and gravy all over my face I figured, and after I swallowed my food I answered quietly, "It's strange at first. There are all these different courses and classes and the library is huge, I've spent hours in it.. There's all these shops on campus and you're constantly meeting new people... I mean unless you're me, of course."

Fred chuckled and Arthur asked, "Unless you're you?"

"Meaning, father, she spends all her bloody time in the science lab or the library. And she's right. It is monsterous." Fred answered as he chewed. I felt his thumb sort of trailing lazily over my leg so I lightly stepped on the top of his foot.

He glared for a moment but he stopped trying to touch me under the table.

I relaxed a little by the middle of the meal when Ginny asked, "And you work in a pub?"

"Yes. And I hate it. The only real good and redeeming quality that the job has is that the money's amazing." and she laughed and mused thoughtfully, "I'd reckon that would be a good and redeeming quality."

"It more than makes up for the irritating music they play all night." I admitted, spearing a potato and taking a bite. The conversation just kind of died down a little, and I didn't feel like I was being scrutinized or anything this time. The last time I'd eaten a meal with the Weasleys.. The entire time I got the sense that very few of them trusted me. Maybe the ending of the war, or the fact that thanks to my parents I had to live in hiding during it, maybe everyone's combined losses and pain were sort of enough to warrant me another chance.

Everyone had finished eating and went their separate ways, Fred was outside with George and Ron and their father. I made my way into the kitchen and picked up a dish, started the sink, set to work washing dishes. Molly looked over and gave me a small and polite smile.

It had been much more than I got the last time she and I were in a room together alone. Last time I got the third degree, I got the suspicion that she wanted me nowhere near her son.

For a while we stood there silently, her cleaning with magic, me cleaning without magic and finally, I said aloud, "It's funny how all this works, right?"

"Indeed, it is. At least he found you finally." Molly mused aloud, looking out the window of the kitchen and into the yard. I nodded and said quietly, " That he did. Did he really look for me that long?"

"He did."

I bit my lower lip, started to say something, there were at least a million different things I wanted to ask Fred's mum but I didn't dare. If I gave myself even a little hope I'd ultimately wind up drowning in it when everything came crashing down for me like it usually tends to.

"I missed him.. I just.. Things went the way they did and I didn't think, I just ran. I had to. It's hard though, pretending that everything's fine when it really isn't. I think he senses it's not, he has to. I keep dodging him.. I hate doing it.."

"But you think that if you don't, things will only turn into a giant mess." Molly finished, looking at me. She sat a stack of plates on a mat near the sink to dry and then said quietly, " He didn't want to do what he did... When he broke up with you. I think one part of it was everyone being the way they were about things and your parents.. And us.. Especially me.. Then the other part was fear."

I mulled it over, what Molly said. "I didn't fight hard enough. I went into one of my stony shutdown silences after I told him to go, told him I never wanted to see him again, that I didn't need him or anyone. I should have tried harder, fought to make him see that maybe what everyone else was wrong, that we could be together. But I was scared too. I'm still scared. I'm scared that when he figures out what happens, realizes that I've been keeping it to myself but doing my best to distance and keep him at arms length.." I trailed off, drying off a dish, adding it to the pile of them that sat next to the sink.

"Things tend to have a way of working themselves out." Molly mused before walking out of the kitchen. It left me alone with my thoughts, I wondered if maybe I should just concentrate less on how much I hurt when he tried to act as if nothing ever ended between us. He didn't remember, after all.

And I wished I could forget. Because me just shutting down, me not fighting him with everything I had in me that night.. It's my biggest regret.

I stood at that kitchen window watching him out in the yard with his siblings and I smiled to myself a little. Maybe I need to try harder now.. To act as if this whole thing isn't such a big deal. I mean if I know it's going to end sooner or later, if I know he won't stay because I'd pushed him so far away back then.. What's the harm in maybe enjoying what little time I do have before things get messy and real and painful?

Because this is life. Things tend to do that.


	5. Truth

**I got a review! I'm so glad people seem to like this so far! And that someone liked it enough to take the time to review or add it to their alerts and favorites! So this chapter.. I chose to write everything coming out from Fred's point of view. I just thought it'd be interesting. Hopefully I did a fairly accurate job with writing him. If not, I apologize. The angst is behind us.. Now to see what happens next, yes?**

* * *

(FRED)

The apartment was filled with laughter and talking and I walked down the hallway, out into the living room only to find Sadie sitting around with a bunch of other girls. They looked at me and then at Sadie and Sadie explained, "Fred."

"Fred as in the one that.." she started, I noticed that Sadie coughed and elbowed the girl speaking, shook her head and then said calmly, with a smile, "Fred as in my boyfriend."

The girl who'd started to say something only to be shut up by my Sadie stared a few moments as if the idea gobsmacked her somehow. Then she smiled and said quietly, "Mae. I've heard nearly everything about you, Fred. It's nice to finally have a face to put with the name." before taking a huge gulp from the black labeled bottle that sat on the table in the midst of all the females in the room.

"What's going on, Sadie?" I asked, brow raised as my eyes darted around the room. Sadie held up a pack of Muggle playing cards and explained with a smirk, "Turns out my being good in math makes poker so much more fun."

"Poker?" I asked, I think if I remember correctly, Finnigan taught some of the Gryffindors in Ron's year to play once while we were all at school. Ron learned a little, when he realized that it was about mathematics and counting he quickly lost interest.

I, however, did not. And I played a game or two with Finnigan and the others. And I wasn't bad at it, either. I gave a grin and flopped onto the chair beside Sadie lazily as I said "Mind if I play?" while looking up at Sadie.

She still looked like she was doing her level best to dodge me, but to my surprise she collected the girls hands back up and shuffled. I watched, amazed. She never liked this kind of stuff when we were dating. She didn't even drink Firewhiskey then. Now apparently, she plays poker and drinks Muggle alcohol.. And she's had more than a few shots of Firewhiskey since or so I've been told.

"Blackjack is the simplest." she said finally, a smirk as she fixed her eyes on me and poured more of the drink in the black labeled bottle into a glass sitting in front of her. One of the girls sitting around got up and turned on the Muggle music machine and music started, the song was one with a female singing, she was singing so fast that I couldn't quite make out what she was saying so I was a little gobsmacked when Sadie started to sing along as if she actually knew the bloody words.

"What?" she asked me with a shrug. For a moment, when she smiled at me, it was almost like it had been before the war, before my memory got scrambled.. For a moment I could almost pretend that the recurring dream I keep having, about us fighting, about me walking away, never even happened.

"Nothing." I said as I picked up my hand and looked at it, grinning a little as I added up the total in my head.

She was still singing along with the music and I noticed that she shifted in the chair so that she was leaned against me a little, her leg was over mine. I glanced at the bottle on the table and then at her and I realized that no, she's not drunk currently, she's probably still sober as a judge.

So what did my mum tell her when they were left alone in the kitchen at the Burrows earlier?

I had to wonder because since it seems as if she's at least making a little less of an attempt to put me off and keep me at bay.

Mae, the girl who'd almost said something before but gotten stopped by Sadie eyed me and then eyed Sadie, shrugged to herself.

The Muggle music player changed to a harder rock song and Sadie drummed her fingers against the table. She called for another card and I knew when she swore that I had her, she'd went over 21.

I smirked.

She shotgunned the drink in her glass.

I raised a brow at her and joked "Keep on woman I'll be toting you to bed when you've fallen on your arse."

"You do realize, Fred, that this is a drinking game.. If you bust or go lower than 21 you have to drink." Mae said with a laugh as she stood and then said abruptly, "I'll call you tomorrow, Sadie. I can't believe you're going back.. I'm gonna miss you."

"You can come.. Just use the Floo." Sadie said as the two hugged. After Mae left, the other girls sort of filed out and as soon as the last one had gone, Sadie shut the door behind her, locked all five locks on it and turned the deadbolt.

And then she laughed as she started to count out money on the counter. "And this.. It's why I love girls night." she said as she shook her head and then asked, "You fell asleep.. I let you sleep.. You're okay, right?" as she looked up at me, knitted her brows together in worry. I nodded and then asked with a smile, "How much did you win?"

"Enough." Sadie admitted, shrugging it off. The money went into a box and the box disappeared into a box of her things and I stared at her, brow raised, prepared to laugh.

"What?"

"You could put it into a bank, woman."

"Yeah, well, paranoia and all that. Besides, I'd have to take it all out again on Monday because we'll be leaving then." Sadie admitted. Her teeth grazed her lower lip, I noticed she was sort of leaning on me a little.

My hands slid down to her hips, rested and I asked with a teasing grin, "Are you drunk, woman?"

"Not really. Can't I just lean a little without you thinking I'm sotted?"

"When you consider how you seem to leave the room whenever I try to touch you lately, woman, I can hardly blame me for wondering." I mused aloud as I looked down at her.

She sighed a little, it was one of those sad sighs and for a few minutes, I thought she was going to say something, instead, she stepped back a fraction and finished off the drink she'd been drinking before turning to look up at me and then saying quietly, "I can't do this.."

"What? Marry me?"

"No, this" she gestured to my hands which were still lingering on her hips, she had a frown on her face as she took my hands and lead me into the living room. "You might want to sit down."

"What's wrong?"

"There's something I have to get out now, okay? There is a good reason I haven't been just acting happy and I've been distant.

Jealousy surged.. So there was another man. I must have had a look on my face because she raised a brow and then calmly said "Whatever you think I'm going to say, it's not. Just let me talk, okay?"

I nodded and she paced in front of me while I sat on the couch looking up at her. She told me everything, from how I'd broken up with her, every single word I'd said and every single one she'd said back. It looked like it hurt her and frankly it was driving me mad. I gaped and my mind went back to the recurring dream.

Maybe it was a memory after all.

She finished telling me how I'd broken up with her, then she started to tell me how shortly after, she had to go on the run, her parents tried to force her into their side of the war and when she refused, they saw it as a betrayal to Voldemort and tried to have her killed. I listened quietly and when she finished, I looked at my hands a few moments.

The way she'd been acting since I came here and found her after I'd found out that we were matched started to make sense suddenly.

She didn't want to get attached and have me remember what happened. I chuckled a little and she glared at me and then said quietly, "Glad you find it entertaining, Fred."

"It's not that.. Why keep me at arms length like you've been doing?"

"Because, Fred, I didn't want to make an unholy mess of everything when you did remember? I figured that as much as I probably pushed you to the point that you felt you had to break up with me then, when you remembered, you'd remember exactly why you'd done it. I mean there had to be a good reason."

"There was, Sadie.. I knew what I was going to do when I left school, okay? And I didn't want your parents catching wind of it, using you, hurting you. I knew how they were even if you never really told me."

She sat there a few moments, staring at her hands, not really talking.

"You idiot!" she finally yelled at me. I raised a brow and then she said in a quieter yet still equally angry tone, "I can handle my own safety, Fredrick Weasley, damn it. I've never been incapable of handling my own safety. Trust me. The fact that you'd do something as assassinine as break it off with me in some misguided attempt to protect me, Fred." and with that she was up and pacing again, this time she was angry, I knew this because she kicked at a few things in her path, one being the heavy wooden table in front of the couch. She hopped around with her foot in her hand all while glaring at me.

I burst into laughter and shook my head, stood and put my hands on her shoulders. "When you love someone, Sadie, you protect them. Even if it's not always in the best way. At the time, Sadie, that's the only solution I had. I knew how close your parents were to people like Bellatrix and the other really devoted followers. I knew that they wouldn't hesitate to do something really bad to you if it suited them to do it."

She looked at me a few minutes and then I explained, "That night I sort of apparated to your house.. Remember?"

"During summer break?"

"Yes. I sort of saw just how they were. I saw and heard the fight.. The one you were having with your mum about me. I also heard what she said and saw what she tried to do in response to what you said about there was nothing she could do to change your mind."

Sadie paled a little and then said quietly, "So what? You decided to take yourself out of the picture and spare me?" as she shook her head, started to swear under her breath.

"Basically, yes. I knew George and I were going to get in even deeper than we originally thought then. I didn't want anything happening to you when I might not be able to be there to keep it from happening."

It sort of shocked me I think when she leaned against me and started to cry, pounded my chest with her small fists. I winced a time or two because for a girl, yes, she can throw a punch, I've seen her do it before. I chuckled and then asked quietly, "Feel better now?"

"I could strangle you but yes.. A little better."

"I was remembering our fight, me ending things.. I think I was, I've been having this recurring dream about it. Because the way you've been dodging me woman has been irritating me and I couldn't figure it out until I had the dream a few times. I wasn't going to leave. What in Merlin made you think I was?" I asked, brow raised.

"I pushed you away a lot back then."

"You did, Sadie, but I'm a lot tougher than I look. I gave what you gave me right back, remember?"

She nodded and then said quietly, "So.. That's out now."

"It is."

"I feel better. At least now you know why I was avoiding you. I don't feel like the worst person in the world." Sadie said quietly. I nodded and then said quietly, "And now?"

"We try to take things slowly, see what happens, I suppose. I still love you, damn you, Fred. I can't deny that. I just.. We're not the same people we were then either.. Maybe it's like starting over?" she guessed, raking her hand through her hair as she looked up at me.

"I thought so too.." I muttered as I leaned down a little, my forehead against hers. "My mum.. She wasn't rude earlier.."

"Not at all. I think maybe she'll tolerate me this time around." Sadie admitted, laughing a little as she asked with an amused smirk, "Earlier.. When I said I had something to tell you? Why'd you look like you were about to go out and find someone and hex them?"

"Honestly, woman, I thought you might have found someone else." I shrugged as she looked at me a moment and then laughed hysterically for a few minutes before going silent and shaking her head then saying quietly, " I really haven't tried."

Inside, I felt like I could scream in victory. I nodded. I knew she wouldn't say things until she got ready. That she'd said this much tonight, that she hadn't just shut down like she used to said a lot.

I'd flopped onto the couch I've been sleeping on since I showed up here and a few moments later, she flopped down in front of me and wiggled into a comfortable position. The television set came on and she stopped on some movie called Footloose, all I really know about it is that it's about dancing.

I lie there behind her, smiled in the darkness.. Maybe everything will be okay now.


	6. Packing

**I got 2 reviews now! and four favorites and seven follows! I'm so glad people seem to like this so far! And that someone liked it enough to take the time to review or add it to their alerts and favorites! So this chapter.. A few things from Sadie and Fred's time dating in Hogwarts are mentioned vaguely. I thought it'd be cute to do that now and then, hopefully you guys like it. If not, I apologize. The angst is behind us.. Now to see what happens next, yes?**

* * *

(SADIE)

My head was pounding and I rolled over. My eyes popped open slightly when I realized where exactly I'd fallen asleep and I thought about it, what happened last night. I didn't feel like I had this heavy crushing weight on me anymore, I'd gotten it all out. We weren't living some even bigger lie than we had been before. I mean it's bad enough that the Marriage Law is in play again, but maybe.. Maybe in our case it wasn't such a bad thing.

I sat up, he pulled me back down, muttered something about "You're warm, woman, stay put for Merlin's sake."

"I kind of have to use the bathroom." I muttered, rolling over to face him, propping on my elbow. He sighed and his arm lifted and I slid off the couch. About halfway down the hallway he stopped me by calling out, "Hurry back."

I'd forgotten how much Fred Weasley is not a morning person and for the most part, neither am I. But today we had to get all my things packed, send them ahead to the apartment we'd be living in above the joke shop he and George own.. George and Angelina were going to be living in another apartment across the hall apparently.

But we had a lot to do today and I knew that like it or not, we needed to have been up hours ago most likely. It was already right around 11 am.

I got finished in the bathroom and I was walking back past the couch, into the kitchen to start coffee when he caught my by my hips and dragged me back down. I gave him a firm look and insisted, "We need to get up.. Now.. We have dinner at your mum and dad's today, as well as me finishing everything I've got left to do here so both our things get to the apartment." as he shook his head and held up five fingers, a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"If you think for one second, Weasley, you're tickling me into submission." I grumbled as he leaned over me, tickling me. I laughed until I shook and finally, I put my hand firmly in the center of his chest to keep him at bay just so I could get up and breathe. "We're getting up now."

"Or what, Sadie?"

"Or, Fred, it'll be like my third year all over again and I'll dangle you from your ankles."

He gaped at me and I shrugged, slunk into the side of the apartment that housed the kitchen so that I could start coffee. I felt his arms go around my waist and smiled a little. He grimaced at the cup and nodded his head to it then asked, "How the ruddy hell, woman, do you drink that disgusting stuff?"

"It wakes me up."

"It better as foul as it smells." he grumbled, pouring himself some orange juice instead. A few minutes later, we were as awake as we got under the circumstances and sitting in my living room again, trying to finish packing my boxes to send to the apartment we'd be living in.

He held up a red side tie bikini bottom and wiggled his brows suggestively at me. I gave him a playful dirty look and then explained, "It's to swim in."

His eyes got as big around as saucers and he stammered a second, coughing. I laughed at it, really. I mean I've changed slightly from then to now, but.. I wouldn't even own the swimsuit in question if my friend Mae hadn't bought it, hated it and given it to me.

It's free clothes, at the time, I barely had any clothes. Whenever I'd move, I'd pack as little as possible. He chuckled and held up the silver framed picture of me and him, taken after the Yule Ball one year. I grabbed for it, he asked, "There are smudges on the glass, why?"

"Because, I kissed it okay? And my chapstick smudged it."

He leaned against me lightly and then said quietly, "Last night.. It felt good.. To get it all out, ya know? I'm glad I know now."

"So am I. There's no way I could have reasonably spent the next five to ten years pretending that everything was fine. I wasn't even really doing a good job of it now."

"You weren't. But I'm glad you told me instead of just shoving it down and ignoring it like you used to." Fred admitted as he gaped at some of my underwear. I snatched for them and then said solemnly, "You can pack my books." as I pointed to a medium sized pile of text books, notebooks filled with my own thoughts and notes on various experiments I'd had to do for school and sometimes even a few erotic things I'd written for whatever reason. He pouted a moment but started putting the books into the box and held up one, gaped.

"It's heavy."

"Yes, Fred, it is. And I've read it four times." I explained patiently. He chuckled, shaking his head as he admitted, "Doesn't surprise me, I suppose. You used to hide from me in the library."

I laughed then and nodded. When he'd first gotten it into his head that he was going to pursue me no matter what, I'd decided to put him off by spending nearly all my time in the one room of the castle I never thought he'd go in.

But he did, of course. I smiled softly to myself. "To be fair, Weasley, you pretty much ambushed me with your pranks and the other things you did to me everywhere else.. I sort of thought that maybe you wouldn't dare be caught in the library."

"You, love, were wrong, obviously." Fred taunted, flipping through the pages of one of the notebooks, reading stuff inside.

"Give me that."

"Did you write that?" he asked, coughing a little. I shrugged and said "Yeah. Sometimes I wrote stuff like that."

"Bloody hell, woman.. This whole other side for the entire time I've known you and I'm only just now finding out about it." Fred remarked, winking at me, laughing.

I slid the tape across the top of my box and then taped up the box Fred had been packing. The apartment here was barren now, empty. After I'd sent my things ahead, I looked at the time and then said with a smirk, "And now, Fred.. We go to eat."

He nodded and together, we apparated to the Burrows. So far, things might just be okay, I think.. But it's too soon yet to tell, I dare not get my hopes up quite yet.


	7. Bed

**I got 3reviews now! and four favorites and eight follows! I'm so glad people seem to like this so far! And that someone liked it enough to take the time to review or add it to their alerts and favorites! So this chapter.. Just a lot of them being silly/sarcastic/flirty. It's mostly a filler chapter. I hope you like it so far!**

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FRED

We'd just finished getting everything into place. I was dead tired, literally. Sadie looked like she was fighting sleep as she walked into the living room of the apartment, a cup of warm tea in her hands, a faded black t shirt with some word, Metallica, I think on the front. I eyed the glass as she held it out to me.

"Just drink it!"

"Woman, you said that about that stuff.. The stuff was bad."

"Fred, don't be a baby.. That was bourbon, it's an acquired taste, trust me." she said as she held out the cup, looking up at me expectantly. "It'll help you sleep."

"So you say."

"It will. Always relaxes me." Sadie said as she leaned against the half wall that sort of kept the kitchen and the living room seperate and then said "So..."

"So.."

I took the cup finally and took a few sips, grimacing. It tasted strange.

"It's green tea."

"Ahh.. So it's gone bad too, has it? Are you trying to kill me, woman?" I asked, giving her a teasing grin. She shook her head and shifted so that she was sitting on the edge of the halfwall now, her leg tucked beneath the other one. I'd forgotten how limber she is. She laughed for about five minutes and then said quietly, "What are we going to do about going to sleep..."

"What do you want to do?" I asked finally, my tongue felt like it weighed a ton suddenly. I could feel my throat closing a little too. I knew what I wanted to do, but I know my Sadie too.. Everything in it's own proper time. I'd figured she'd suggest that I take the couch or something but she said quietly, "We might as well adjust to sharing a bed I suppose." as she sipped her tea.

I'd just taken another sip of the infernal stuff and when she said it, it shocked me so that I choked a little and proceeded to spit mine out almost everywhere in front of me within a foot away. She grimaced and said sourly, "Thanks, Fred."

"You said.."

"Yes, Fred, I'm well aware of what I said." Sadie muttered, tapping the foot that was dangling from the edge of the halfwall she sat on impatiently. She stared up at me and then asked with a teasing grin, "Afraid, are you?"

"Not even a little."

"The fact that I'm wearing your tea right now, sir, that would indicate otherwise, me thinks." Sadie taunted. I lunged to tickle her, she darted out of my path. I'd forgotten how quickly she can move when she wants to or if she's about to be subject to one of my tickle attacks.

I caught her in the bedroom, she'd been just about to flop into the bed after loudly declaring that the bed was the safe zone, therefore I couldn't tickle her if she was in it. My hands closed around her hips and I spun her around, shaking my head as I laughed and leaned in, said quietly, "And now it would seem that I've got you exactly where I want you."

"Safe zone."

"Where is that?" I asked, leaning in a little more, my fingers gently moving up and down her sides. I wasn't completely tickling her, but I was leading up to it. She pouted up at me, crossed her arms in an attempt to keep me for going for her rib cage.

I went for it anyway, she doubled over and I got her up over my shoulder, gently putting her onto the bed, sort of pinning her in, laughing. "And now, love.. I've really got you where I want you."

"You're not funny, Fred."

"I'm hilarious, Sadie." I reminded her.

She rolled out from beneath me, and under the covers. I went under after her, started to tickle her and she laughed so much that she was almost crying. I was laughing so hard that I was almost shaking. The door was knocked on and we both grumbled.

"Just a minute!"

"Yeah, hang on." Sadie called out also, as she leaned upward, pulled me into a kiss. I deepened the kiss and muttered quietly, "Don't start it if you don't intend to finish."

She nodded and we finally managed to make our way to the door of our new apartment. George and Angelina stepped in, Sadie shrieked and bolted back to the bedroom, slamming the door.

"She acts as if I didn't catch the two of you taking that private moonlight dip in that little river near the Burrows."

"Damn it, George." Sadie grumbled as she came back out, a pair of my pajamas on. I gaped at her and she said with a shrug, "First ones I grabbed. Deal with it."

"Still a little ray of sunshine I see." George joked as he said "We were going down to the Broomsticks.. If you two wanted to go?"

I looked at Sadie and for a moment I started to say yes but instead I said with a shrug and an exaggerated yawn, "Thinking I want to fall into that bed and sleep for a week, brother."

"Sure you do, Gred."

"Aye, Forge. Bloody tired after all this moving. And this woman's sofa almost killed us both twice." I admitted, George chuckled and nodding said casually, "I saw that. I told you to do the spell to send her things here.. Last time she tried to magically transport anything anywhere."

"It was one time, Forge." Sadie spoke up, giving my brother a playful scowl as she leaned against me a little. I chuckled and then said "You sent it halfway around the world, woman. Nowhere even remotely close to it's intended place."

"it got there!"

"after a bloody week." I teased her. She elbowed me and I pretended to wince. She smirked and I pinched her. George and Angelina were about to die from laughter, my twin was shaking almost he was trying to hold it in.

"Maybe tomorrow night, eh?"

"Tomorrow's brilliant, Forge. G'night, brother."

"G'night." George said as he smirked at both of us, shut the door behind him after giving me a suggestive wiggle of his brows. I turned to Sadie and smirked, holding up one finger at a time as she shrieked and took off down the hallway and into the bedroom again.

I flopped onto the bed beside her and she rolled over and said quietly, "We could've gone."

"I wanted to stay." I admitted, leaning over, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear as I held her gaze intently and yawned. "I really am sleepy.. Are you sure about this," I gestured to the bed and then pointed at myself before adding, "You're okay with me sleeping in here?"

"Do I ever say things I'm not sure about, Fred?" she asked as she curled up against me, started to wiggle into place. When she'd stopped wiggling, I worked on getting myself comfortable also and before I knew it, we were both asleep. And I just had this feeling.. If things stay like this, if we manage to not fight as badly as we used to.. I think we'll be okay this time.


End file.
